


A mermaid tale

by PandaLostInTheStars



Series: Ashton/Kenny ship [6]
Category: South Park, South park: the fractured but whole (game), TFBW
Genre: A bit of angst but smol, Alternate Universe, Ashton is not my OC, Fluff, IT TOOK FOREVER TO WRITE OMG, Little Mermaid Elements, M/M, Mermaid Ashton, Romance, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, mermaid au, this is mushy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2019-03-12 20:16:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13554774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PandaLostInTheStars/pseuds/PandaLostInTheStars
Summary: Kenny, with his usual luck, found himself on a pirate ship.But when a storm hits, he'll have the most unusual meeting with a creature he thought didn't exist.And when one's life spiral out of control, one tends to search for a rock in a tempest.(I am bad at summaries)





	A mermaid tale

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Beneath_the_Trees](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beneath_the_Trees/gifts).
  * Inspired by [More than Survive](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12790848) by [Beneath_the_Trees](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beneath_the_Trees/pseuds/Beneath_the_Trees). 



> Ashton isn't my OC but Beneath_The_Trees ! Please go read her TFBW fanfic!  
> Also english isn't my first language and I'm posting this at midnight I'm dying please forgive the mistakes. I'll look over for typos later.  
> Everyone is ooc, it's an alternative Universe.

Once upon a time….~

Kenny sighed. Sailing was good and fun, but getting recruited by pirated hadn’t exactly been in his plans for the holidays.  
However, since his so-called “friends” had abandoned him to this fate, he might as well try and get the best deal out of it. True, he could just kill himself and he knew he would wake up again in his bed, like always. But these people were **pirates**. And if it meant that Kenny would be able to bring some money home? He was okay with working with them.

Pirates were better than drug dealers anyway.

“GET BACK TO WORK LAD” shouted one of the crew members.

Kenny immediately dropped to his knees and went back to scrubbing the floor. The warning the captain had given him was still fresh in his mind.

“Ye step one foot out’of line and ye’re toast! Capishe?”

Being drowned being one of the most painful death Kenny had experienced, he wasn’t keen on doing it again.

A few days went by, and Kenny started to get real tired of the “pirate lifestyle” to put it in a nice way.

He was in the hold in his hammock, juggling with a small pocket knife, wondering if he should cut his own throat or not. Suddenly a scream came from the night watchman at the top of the mast.

“STORM INCOMING!! EVERYONE GET READY!”

The captain immediately got out of his cabin “GET TO POSITION YALL SCALLYWAGS!”

From afar, Kenny could see the dark clouds closing in while huge gusts of winds tousled his hair in every direction possible.

 

Then the storm hit hard. The boat pitching dangerously. Due to his light weight, Kenny didn’t stand a chance against the waves. He quickly went overboard, and everyone was too preoccupied by their own survival to care about him.

He struggled as best as he could out of instinct, panic overloading his senses. He didn’t want to die again! Not like this! But his struggles were in vain. He started inhaling water, his lungs burned, and black spots starting to float around the edges of his vision. Everything hurt.

Suddenly, something pulled him upward. He found himself on a piece of wood, coughing all the liquid out of his lungs. He blinked and straightened up slightly, confused as to why he was still alive. He spotted something in the water a few meters away, and his breath got taken away for a second.

Big glowing purple eyes, dark and silver long hair that were shining in the moonlight…and a tail splashing out of the water at regular intervals.  Kenny was seeing a real-life mermaid.

A mermaid had just saved his life. Could his life get any weirder? He noted that the storm had passed, but didn’t really care about it at the moment.

The creature got out of the water a bit.

“Are you alright?”

No –no –fuck, how could a voice sound so _good_ ?? Kenny could swear his soul that he almost got an instant boner just from the meman (cause it had to be a guy, his voice was rather deep) asking a simple question.

“I-I think yea…What-Why did you…?” Kenny hated himself for stuttering. But seeing how he had just went thought an almost-death situation, he hoped he could say he had attenuating circumstances.

The creature, meman?, smiled, showing off pointy teeth.

“I’ve been observing the pirate ship. And you were interesting. I couldn’t let you drown.”

Kenny could only stare, not believing his own eyes. The magnificent mermaid in front of him found him interesting. Him. Plain old Kenny McCormic.

The mermaid swam closer. “I’m Ashton. And you?”

He swallowed with difficulty. “Kenny. My name is Kenny.”

“Kay then. Hold on tight!” said Ashton as he dived under the piece of wood. Kenny grabbed the piece harder, slightly alarmed.

Then the piece of wood started moving forward, pushed by the mermaid.

After was seemed an eternity, an island appeared.

Kenny hadn’t realized how dehydrated he was until he was able to drink from a little river.

He went back to the shore where the meman-Ashton, had waited patiently.

“Feeling better?”

Kenny nodded, still feeling a little shaken. Sure, he was used to die all the time but it didn’t get easier. He knew somewhere that he was in a state of shock.

He took this time to study his savior under the moonlight.

Dark scales with a high and pointy dorsal fin, along with four parallels side fins orned his tail.

The tail stopped at the edge of the back of Ashton. His upper body was as pale as snow, with glowing purple symbols on his face and neck. Along his spinal column were some pointy black protuberances.

He did have pointy teeth and glowing big purple eyes, along with silver and black hairs that seemed to dance in the water. And along the base of the neck, Kenny could make out something that looked like gills.  
Dammit, he was gorgeous.

 

It took some time, but Kenny managed, with Ashton’s help, to get the attention of some fishermen that were around, and they agreed to bring him back to shore and to South Park.

(( Note from the author: for the coherence of this fic, I’m considering that South Parth is located near the sea. I know it’s probably not the case but who cares.))

 

 

Kenny screamed so hard at his friends when he finally got back.

They had left him to his death! Cartman didn’t care. At least Stan and Kyle had looked sheepish and had apologized. But he didn’t care anymore. He asked Craig and his gang if he could hang out with them, seeing how his friends didn’t care. They had agreed, and Kenny was surprised to find out how much he liked hanging out with them.

With Craig he talked about space. With Tweek he started to bake cupcakes and cookies.

He was happy.

One day he decided to go to the beach for the first time in weeks.

He was sitting on the shore, thinking back on everything that happened. He wondered if the pirate crew had survived. He wondered what had happened to this merman. Ashton.

He still saw him in dreams.

 

One night, he went for a walk and stood on the short, letting the marine breeze ruffle his hair.

Suddenly, water splached his face. Startled he looked down only to find a very familiar face looking back at him.

“Ashton ?!” he cried out, then quickly looked around to see if anyone had seen him. Thankfully he was alone. At the same time, the only people awake a 3AM were either drunk or drugged.

He looked back down at the splashing mermaid.

“What are you doing here?”

Ashton grinned back at the blondie.

“Migrations. The water is hotter here, I think I’ll stay around for a while. Especially since you’re around. I was scared I wouldn’t see you again.”

“But it’s dangerous!”

“I don’t care.” Shrugged the black and silver haired boy.

Kenny tried to make him leave. But Ashton wouldn’t hear anything.

Then a sort of pattern started to appear.

Every night, they would meet. Kenny would buy humans treats and feed them to Ashton. In return, Ashton would brink pearls or underwater stuff. Ashton had explained that he was a mermaid of the deep, that thus could only go to the surface at night. It was safer that was anyway.

They would talk about anything and everything, and Ashton quickly became Kenny’s anchor in a life that was spiraling out of control.

 

His father got arrested for attempted murder after a quarrel in a bar went out of control.

His mother, despite her best efforts, couldn’t afford to keep the house, or her guardianship over her children.

Kenny, now 18, had to abandon all dreams of ever going to college, while his little sister got sent into a foster home. Kevin was now walking in his father’s footsteps, working the day and drinking the night.

Kenny found a little job as a mechanist. It wasn’t happy, but he did get enough to get by, even barely. He wrote and called Karen often, and was relieved to learn that her foster family had gone out of South Park, and that she was happy.

Knowing that she was safe made Kenny happy, but he couldn’t help but feel like he wasn’t needed anymore.

All of his friends had either left the town or were ignoring him.

His mother had killed herself by overdose, they couldn’t afford a coffin. She was buried like that. Kenny was the only one at the funeral; Karen’s new family couldn’t make the trip.

Kevin didn’t care.

 

Really, Ashton became his only ray of light in this shithole of a town he lived in.

He hated it, so much.

One day, he broke down, and confessed to Ashton everything that had been going on.

Ashton listened patiently, pulled himself onto the shore to hug his human friend.

And Kenny cried, letting out everything, all the sadness and despair that had built up during the months.

After a few minutes, Kenny was laying down again, his head resting on Ashton’s tail (which was surprisingly comfortable). Ashton, sitting down, was stroking his hair slowly.

They stayed like this in contempt silence for what seemed like an eternity, then Ashton spoke:

“Kenny, I do want to do something but I’m afraid you’ll hate me.”

Kenny looked up into the purple orbs that were his crush eyes. “Ashton, I don’t think I could ever hate you. Even if you kill me right now I’d probably be grateful.”

Ashton looked horrified at the suggestion.

“No! I would never! “

Kenny chuckled. “Relax. It’s not like I can die anyway…” he mused.

Suddenly a pair of cold lips were against his, softly.

His brain went blank for a second because holy shit Ashton was kissing him.

**Ashton.Was.Kissing.Him.**

Ashton pulled back, looking slightly worried at the fact that Kenny had froze.

“I’m sorry did I…?”

Kenny didn’t let him finish before he grabbed the merman’s face and crashed their lips together. Their second kiss was far messier than the first one but left them both breathless and blushing madly.

Ashton giggled before resting his forehead against Kenny’s.

“I was so scared….I love you.”

Kenny wanted to return the words so bad but his voice had left him.

What had he done to deserve such love?

Eventually, dawn came and Ashton had to go back to the deep.

Watching him disappear under the water, Kenny had a hollow feeling in his chest.

 

He went back to his life, but it seems so dull. Empty. Black and white with no savor.

His only solaces were at night, when he and Ashton could be together again.

 

After a few days, Ashton came back, looking serious, which worried Kenny.

“Kenny dear…I have a proposition but…I’m not sure you’ll want it.”

Kenny stayed silent, letting his obviously distressed lover talk freely.

“I know about your curse, and I’m okay with it. I also know that you are not happy with your life as it is….I…I have talked about you to my parents a lot. And, well, we- -we may have found a way to make you a mermaid.”

Kenny’s heart leaped. Really ? That was a thing ? He could finally leave this town?

But then his mind went to Karen, and he froze. He snapped out of it when Ashton started talking again:

“I know you have your brother and sister to think about. So I won’t rush you on anything. Just….know that it is a possibility okay?”

Then they parted ways.

Kenny went back to his flat, and felt the loneliness unbearable.

He grabbed his phone and composed the number he now knew by heart:

“Hi ?”

“Hey Karen.”

They talked for a while, about everything and anything, meaningless conversations to try and mend the rift that had formed between them.

But it was useless. So Kenny made his choice.

“Karen?”

“Yea?”

“Are you happy ?”

“Yes Kenny I am, what’s-“ but her brother cut her off before she could finish.

“I want to leave Karen. I can’t – I can’t stay in this town any longer. I want to leave everything. Start over from scratch. A new life. But, that means we won’t get to talk anymore. I won’t be there anymore. Not ever. I’d be as good as dead.”

On the other side of the phone, only silence. Kenny could hear his heart beating in his ears. He was shaking. He was so-so scared. For so long he had let the thought “ For Karen” govern his every thoughts and actions. Now that he was doing something selfish, he felt weird. Scared.

“Do what you want brother. It’s okay. I’m safe and happy. Now think of yourself. And if it means you leave so be it.”

Kenny let out a breathe he didn’t knew he was holding. Having the approval and validation of his sister seemed so lift a weight from his shoulders.

He knew what he had to do now.

 

They chatted a bit longer, and Kenny bid his sister his final farewells.

Then he started taking measures.

He made a will, giving Karen absolutely everything.

He cleaned everything, tidied up his whole house. Made a resignation letter to the shop he worked at and mailed it.

Texted his few coworkers farewell. Then he left, leaving everything in the flat.

And he slowly made his way to the beach, enjoying the slightly chilling wind, and the beautiful colors of dusk. It would be one of the only things he would miss, he mused silently. He looked at how the first autumn leaves twirled in the wind.

A soft smile on his face, he kept his tranquil pace toward the shore. He had time.

When the stars started to show their face, he was there, and saw a now very familiar face in the water. A face that would make his stomach twist and his heart fill with love.

He went closer and grinned when he saw the merman’s face light up.

“Kenny! You came!”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?” Kenny chuckled. He noticed how ashton was nervous and decided to take the bull by the horns and face the issue directly. He went into the water, surprising the merman, before kissing him passionately, trying to ignore the chill.

When they broke off, Kenny looked directly into the amethyst eyes he had come to love.

“I want to go. Your proposition? I accept it.”

Ashton looked at him for a few seconds, eyes full of so much hope it hurt Kenny.

“You….really? You’d become a merman…for me?”

Kenny smiled softly, brushing a few bangs out of the other’s face.

“Of course dummy. I made arrangements. Literally nothing ties me to the human world anymore. And I love you.” It still felt exhilarating saying these 3 little words out loud.

 

So Ashton gave him a potion that he drank without hesitation. As his body began to change, he closed his eyes and bid his final farewell to the human’s world.

Then he followed Ashton into the depths, where his family welcomed the new mermaid with open arms. And for the first time in years, Kenny felt fully happy.

And he knew, looking at his boyfriend, that it wasn’t about to change for a long time. He never regretted their choices.

And they lived happily ever after.

The end!

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading !  
> Please leave a kudo and a comment! They are my writing fuel! (especially comments *wink*


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